


Die Anywhere Else

by haloburns



Series: Band Practice [2]
Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: Gregg and Angus have issues, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Music, M/M, Not All About Mae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 04:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11615547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haloburns/pseuds/haloburns
Summary: Angus wants out of this town so badly. He would rather die ANYWHERE else, please.





	Die Anywhere Else

Their apartment was quiet but for the clicking of Gregg’s game controller and the muted noises coming from the game. Gregg didn’t say anything as Angus flopped face first onto the couch, his legs falling into Gregg's lap. The noises stopped as his boyfriend tossed his controller onto the coffee table; Angus heard it skitter across the table and clatter to the floor. His boyfriend laid a comforting hand on his legs. The warmth and weight were doing more than anything they could have said. And that was sad.

"You okay, babe?" Gregg asked, stroking his leg calmly.

"Rough day at work," Angus said. "I'm going to be short on my end of rent _again_ this month. The store isn't making enough, so now _I'm_ not making enough." Angus flopped over onto his back to look at his concerned boyfriend. Money stressed Gregg out more than Angus. He grew up with way less and was therefore always stressed about _not enough_. Angus hated to bring this up, but he didn’t want to live on the streets with Gregg. He didn’t deserve that.

"Maybe we should just take what we have and leave, Angus,” he said slowly. “The jobs here are failing and will continue to fail, and there aren't enough people to keep what little money there is flowing. I know we'll struggle at first, but anywhere has to be better than here." Gregg was convinced, but his brows furrowed. Angus wanted smooth those stress lines from his face because _it wasn't supposed to be like this_. He sighed and pushed himself up, settling closer to Gregg to pull him into a hug.

"No, we'll stay here and earn what we can and move when we're secure. I'll just...fix computers on the side. We'll do what we can, Gregg, and it'll be fine." _It has to be fine._

With the conversation finished, Gregg reluctantly went back to playing his game while Angus made dinner. They both knew this wouldn’t be the end of it.

* * *

Stress radiatedoff the two of them. Even though times sucked, Angus loved Gregg and would do anything for him and knew Gregg felt the same way… But their plan sucked. He wanted to move now, fuck the consequences. Life in Possum Springs was like living on that dead-end street when he was a kid, where all these new kids moved in as the older tenants died but everything stayed the same for Angus. Very little had changed in their lives and neither of them had ever lived outside of Possum Springs before. The only one to make it out of Possum Springs was Mae Borowski, of all people. But she hadn’t returned for Longest Night or the summer… When people left Possum Springs, they stayed gone.

“Mae’s back!!” Gregg cried as he barrelled through the door. Angus jumped from where he sat at the kitchen table, pen and paper beneath his hands.

“What?” Angus said, looking up from the paper beneath his ink-stained hands as Gregg practically vibrated standing next to him.

“Mae’s back in town for good!” Gregg said, practically squealing and jumping about. Angus smiled fondly, and a little absently, at him before returning to his paper, letting Gregg be happy and overly excited by himself for a minute. After he calmed down, Angus felt him settle by his side in the chair he’d dragged over. There was a flash of red hair before Gregg shoved his head through the hole his arm created by being on the table.

“I’m happy and disappointed she came back,” Gregg said wistfully, laying his head in Angus’s lap and staring up at his bemused boyfriend.

“Why are you disappointed?” he asked almost absentmindedly. The words he’d been writing seemed caught in his pen, and his bubble of focus had been popped by Gregg’s head. Instead of forcing the words from his pen, he turned his attention to the Gregg in his lap. His fingers ran over Gregg’s forehead, smoothing the wrinkles that had bunched there.

“She had a lot going for her, and yet she said she’s back for good. Like school is no longer a thing for her…”

“Maybe she’s back for Harfest and Longest Night. She did miss them last year,” Angus reminded Gregg. His inspiration seemed to unstick the words in his pen and they flowed again while Gregg mulled over her return. Gregg hummed absently but Angus didn’t notice if it was a “yay/nay” situation.

“Tell her we’re having band practice soon,” Angus said, gesturing to the messy lyric sheet in front of him. “Help me figure out the music aspect and we've got a new song.”

Excited, Gregg sat up. It’d been a long time since they’d written a new song. Almost immediately, Gregg started working out notes and rhythms with Angus, the two working late into the night.

“So, band practice?” Gregg asked as they climbed into bed that night.

“Only if you promise not to get into too much trouble with Mae, please. We still have our future to think about. Deal?”

“Deal,” Gregg said, leaning in to give his amazing boyfriend a kiss to seal their deal.

_So come with me, let’s die anywhere else…anywhere…just not here._


End file.
